Digested Read – Spirit Level 4: Other Social Problems
The fourth of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects education, social mobility and teenage pregnancies.
Left voting guide to DCC elections
A reader has sent us a Lefty’s guide to voting in the Dunedin City Council elections. With the huge numbers of candidates and the relatively small amount of information we get on them, this kind of guide is really useful. If anyone else wants to put together a voting guide for their local bodies we’ll (almost certainly) publish it.
China rising
The idea of The Chinese Century has been around for a long time now. But a couple of articles that caught my eye recently make me think that the start of that century is well and truly upon us.
200,000th comment: who will it be?
We’re about to hit 200,000 comments. We’re past 199,700 now and increasing by an average of 250-odd a day. It took 688 days to get to the first 100,000 and just 450 for the next 100,000. The 100,000th comment was good old Felix in fine form. Will you be the 200,000th? We totally meant to arrange a prize. Next time.
Open mike 25/09/2010
Open mike is your post. It’s open for discussing topics of interest, making announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. Comment on whatever takes […]
Enjoy Dave Kent
You’ve only got a day left to see “Dave Kent, a Listening Eye” at Enjoy Gallery on Cuba Street. If you’ve got the […]
“My foolish actions 26 years ago”
Rodney Hide and David Garrett would have us believe that Garrett’s downfall is about youthful indiscretions and skeletons in closets. Let’s nip this in the bud straight away. It wasn’t Garrett’s “foolish actions 26 years ago” that sealed his fate, it was the confirmation that even to this day he is still a liar, a criminal and the worst kind of hypocrite.
Re: Chauvel on CERRA
A few days ago Charles Chauvel wrote a piece on Red Alert on why Labour voted for CERRA. I have two big problems with it. 1) Labour may have won concessions that improved CERRA but they didn’t get the key one. 2) There’s a dangerous mindset in the position that Labour had to vote for dictatorship or get pilloried in the media and lose votes.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 3: Trust & Crime
The third of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects crime and our attitudes to others.
The bludger paradox
So. If you’re too poor to afford house insurance and you’re left homeless by an act of god, the government won’t help you.
But if you’re rich enough to own a farm, then one year you get hit by an act of god, the government will come running to your aid.
The Smiths: Getting it Right
Lockwood and Nick did good work yesterday. So praise where praise is due: Keep it up boys.
Over promise under deliver
“I also want to pay a special acknowledgement to my friend and deputy, Bill English. What a great job he is doing as Finance Minister. He’s delivered two Budgets that have steered New Zealand out of recession and put the economy firmly back on track to grow and create jobs”. Or has he?…
Pause For Thought # 1
The suspension of normal democratic processes in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake should be an occasion to pause for thought in the light of likely future events.
Open mike 24/09/2010
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Spinning while the economy burns
The latest GDP figures are awful. the Reserve Bank had predicted 0.9% growth in the June Quarter. It came in at 0.2% – far worse than anyone expected and slower than population growth. The Key Government’s reaction? Deny there’s a problem and spin, spin, spin.
Enviro commissioner: end miners’ free-ride in DoC estate
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Jan Wright has released her Mining the Conservation Estate report. Among other important points,it asks what we asked during the Schedule 4 fight: Why do miners get to mine on conservation estate without paying a lease? No private land owner would give away their land like that.
Cosgrove slams McVicar’s role in Garrett affair
Great video of Clayton Cosgrove getting right stuck into the Sensible Sentencing Trust’s Garth McVicar over his hypocrisy on David Garrett. Cosgrove’s certainly no bleeding heart liberal so I’d say McVicar’s credibility on law in order is now pretty much shot.
Open mike 23/09/2010
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But will he make the trains run on time?
Parliament unanimously made Gerry Brownlee dictator. Apparently, this was necessary to save Christchurch. But are Dictator Gerry and Bob ‘the Rebuilder’ (wonder how long it took Kevin Taylor to come up with that one) actually delivering for the people who need it the most? Not if the anger in poor Christchurch suburbs is anything to go by.
Roads of National Party Significance Continue…
Transmission Gully: A road that makes no economic sense, that will now be forced through extra fast, with reduced consultation.
The next ACT
Key is strongly backing Hide.
That might be because he doesn’t want to deal with the ideologues who would replace him. Or it might be because Hide knows where the skeletons are buried.
Either way Key’s going to find it harder and harder to distance himself from the mess.
McCully’s Autocratic Cronyism
McCully doesn’t believe in the tender process. Or accountability. Cronyism? Well, that’s a different story…
Neoliberalism bringing US to its knees
A recent article in Canada’ MacLean’s magazine on the decline of public services in the US bears sobering links to what is happening in New Zealand. For three decades the neo-liberals have worked to starve public services to death with tax cuts for the rich. Now, the US is facing the consequences. New Zealand is on the same path just a little behind.
John Banks: Signs I’d like to see
John Banks has gone big on billboards in his campaign for mayor. So I thought I’d show some that I’d like to see…
Key’s clumsy opportunism
John Key has tried to use the ACT fiasco to take a clumsy swing at MMP.
I guess he reckons it’s just too hard to rip voters off when you have to chase a party vote.
Open mike 22/09/2010
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Depose Gerry the First!
Jeremy Harris has created a facebook group calling for the End of the Reign of Gerry Brownlee.
Join quick before he bans it.
Govt ignored advice to save lives with lower drink-drive limit
The government was told that lowering the drink-drive limit would save 33 lives and $238 million a year. They ignored it. Why? I reckon the only money they were worried about was donations from the booze barons. These idiots don’t bother with basic cost vs benefit analyses. It’s all about pay-offs for their mates. And donation kickbacks.
The real story on Slater’s videos
Twice in a fortnight, we have had the unedifying spectacle of media running a false story based on a video on Whaleoil. It is obviously beyond Slater to get the material for these vids. Now, my comrades in the media, here’s a real story for you: how National uses proxies to run false, muckraking media stories while appearing to keep its hands clean.
Garrett and McVicar partners in crime
Garth McVicar is head of ‘tough on crime’ lobby group the Sensible Sentencing Trust. David Garrett is a serial offender who now faces further criminal charges for perjury.
So naturally McVicar is backing Garrett to head up a new hard-line law and order party.
The first diktats
On Thursday, our new dictator Gerry Brownlee decreed by Order in Council that the following Acts of Parliament were amended: the Building Act, the Local Government Act, the Resource Management Act, various pieces of transport legislation, and the Civil Defence Act. Most of the changes deal with minutiae of government. Some are less innocuous.
Open mike 21/09/2010
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National’s dodgy tax campaign
According to the ODT government MP’s are going to be travelling around the country trying to convince New Zealanders that their plan to cut taxes for the rich isn’t actually a plan to cut taxes for the rich at all.
An indelible stain on parliamentary lawmaking
Andrew Geddis (Associate Professor of Law at Otago and writer at Pundit) is an expert on democratic theory. He has become required reading for politics junkies. His latest piece — a brutally honest analysis of the recent work of the Law and Order select committee — should be required reading for everybody.